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{
    "id": 609770,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/609770/?format=api",
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    "content": "Finally, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, an issue which concerns me most is that we, in this Senate, are very concerned that education; lock stock and barrel except for Early Childhood Education, is still in the hands of the national Government. My consultation with people in my constituency and my discussion with them show that the national Government is performing this function very poorly. First, it is not in a position to know what the needs of the people at the grassroots level are. Secondly, it cannot properly oversight what is happening at the grassroots level notwithstanding the fact that the National Assembly says that it will be financing education because that is a national function. That is completely against what the CDF was established for in the first place. The CDF was not to perform national functions, but it was a devolved fund to perform functions which the national Government was not doing anyway well in the first case. Precisely because the National Assembly has identified education something that should be funded by the CDF at the local level, for that very reason, basic education should be left to the counties as a devolved function. When education is devolved, counties will be in a better position to process their needs for education from the grassroots level but not to have a system imposed on them from above since they are the people being educated. They know that unlike boys, girls perform poorer because they are given too many responsibilities when they go back home in the evening. That is a kind of change system that this Senate needs to engage in a dialogue with people at the grassroots level to see what kind of good education we should have for our children. That cannot be done if education is still in the hands of the national Government. This is one of the reasons we need this Fund. We should begin having a dialogue with our people to begin preparing for constitutional changes we want in the Constitution. The Constitution should respond to what it says; that we have two levels of government; one closer to the people to look at their basic needs and promote them and the other one at the national level to defend the nation and promote national development. That is an enormous task in the hands of the Government. For you to perform an enormous task of promoting national development, you must have policy makers who can make good policies in all Ministries. They should consult widely and deeply so that they know what kind of policies are being proposed in the legislative organs of this nation."
}